Framingham neighborhood opposes developer's rental plans

Saxonville neighbors Tuesday spoke out against a developer’s request to build three times more rental units than the town’s Planned Unit Development bylaw allows.

By Danielle Ameden/Daily News staff

MetroWest Daily News, Framingham, MA

By Danielle Ameden/Daily News staff

Posted Feb. 13, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Feb 13, 2013 at 1:06 PM

By Danielle Ameden/Daily News staff

Posted Feb. 13, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Feb 13, 2013 at 1:06 PM

FRAMINGHAM

» Social News

Saxonville neighbors Tuesday spoke out against a developer’s request to build three times more rental units than the town’s Planned Unit Development bylaw allows.

Developer Roy MacDowell Jr. proposes renting out 240, or 66 percent, of the 360 housing units that he wants to build on the Wayland town line.

Arguing it’s key to making the long-awaited Danforth Green project economically viable, MacDowell asked the Zoning Board of Appeals for a variance from the PUD bylaw that allows no more than 20 percent of units to be rentals.

“I am not happy,” resident Carol Casselman told the Zoning Board after hearing MacDowell’s presentation. She said the plan “missed the whole spirit” of the bylaw.

Several neighbors said they respect MacDowell’s reputation as a quality developer, but they urged the Zoning Board to vote down his team’s request.

MacDowell and his sons, Roy III and Todd, are also seeking variances to build higher than three stories or 40 feet and to make all 36 required affordable units rentals.

The Zoning Board takes up the requests as the Planning Board continues its review of the project overall.

ZBA Chairman Phil Ottaviani said his board will need to weigh residents’ concerns against the developer’s arguments and town’s need for new housing stock.

“It’s going to be a balancing issue,” he said.

The benefits of granting the variances, Town Meeting member Audrey Hall said, are “uncertain at best.”

Town Meeting thoroughly vetted the PUD bylaw back in the ‘80s, Hall said, including the percent of rental units it wanted in such a large-scale project.

“The 20 percent was not arbitrary,” Hall said.

Resident Debbie Cleveland said while she has concerns, there’s “much to like” about MacDowell’s version of the project, which has been significantly scaled back compared to previous developers’ plans.

Ottaviani read a letter from Planning Board Chairman Tom Mahoney that pledged the majority of his board’s support of the variance requests.

Granting the variances, Mahoney wrote, would ensure the economic viability of the important project.

MacDowell said he wants to build the rental units - including the 10 percent to be priced affordably – first and then build the for-sale homes in later phases of the project.

The variance requests are consistent with the developer’s desire for a smaller footprint, the project team’s attorney, Peter Barbieri, said.

“In essence it comes down to the constraints upon the property,” Barbieri said.

MacDowell said plans call for a lot of architectural detail in the rental units, and they will be as nice as the for-sale homes.

They are geared toward the “renter by choice” market, made of up empty-nesters and young couples or young adults who can’t yet afford to buy, he said.

Page 2 of 2 - “The intent,” he said, “is to integrate this as a community.”

MacDowell and his sons are scheduled to return before the Planning Board Thursday for a continued public hearing.

The Zoning Board plans to pick up its review on the variance requests on March 12.